The financing of health care is a major challenge for developing countries, especially since deficiencies in national health systems specifically harm the poor. Innovative financing mechanisms, such as private health insurance, offer benefits and risks. Their implementation requires caution on...

The majority of sub-Saharan African citizens - informal sector workers and the rural population - have never had access to wage-based social health insurance or privately run health insurance. As a response to the lack of social security, to the negative side-effects of user fees introduced in...

Poor people lack access to health care with a negative impact on their dignity, human capital formation and their risk-management options. Recently an emerging movement of community-based health insurance schemes has attracted the attention of policy makers and researchers as it seems that these...